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Letter: Medicaid privatization expands benefits

Kim Reem

I get it. Change is difficult. Particularly when discussing health care, which many view as a basic human right. That being said, I do not support critics of Gov. Terry Branstad who claim modernization of Medicaid is akin to privatization. Frankly, nothing could be further from the truth.

Medicaid modernization is about expanding benefits to Iowa’s most vulnerable citizens. It is ensuring better health outcomes by offering an expanded array of preventive services. Modernization means more doctors, more transparency and more accountability. It is not privatization or inefficiency.

Gov. Branstad’s plan to move management of Iowa’s Medicaid program to three separate managed care organizations will ensure greater preventive care, more benefits and superior health outcomes to Iowa’s poor and disabled. Despite one’s socio-economic status, I would like to believe these are rights we would all embrace for our citizens.

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